President Trump Tuesday signed an executive order directing federal agencies to use "Super Intelligence" and "SI" in place of "artificial intelligence" and "AI" in official government communications, according to the text published by the White House. The order also gives the president's top science adviser 60 days to propose legislation that would define the new term in federal law.

What Happened

The order, titled "Inaugurating the Era of Super Intelligence" and dated Sept. 29, tells executive departments and agencies to make the switch to the maximum extent permitted by law. It covers official correspondence, public communications, websites, reports, policy documents and other non-statutory documents inside the executive branch.

The requirement looks forward only. Regulations and presidential actions that have already been issued, along with existing contracts, grants and historical documents, do not have to be rewritten.

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For now the order does not change what the technology is in legal terms. It says Super Intelligence refers to the technologies and systems already covered by the definition of artificial intelligence in section 9401(3) of Title 15 of the U.S. Code. Within 60 days, the Assistant to the President for Science and Technology must send the president proposed legislative language. That submission is to assess whether the new definition should modify or expand the current one, propose conforming amendments to statutes that refer to AI, and recommend any further executive actions. The order's general provisions state that it does not affect existing agency authority or the functions of the Office of Management and Budget.

Fox Business reported that Trump signed the order on the same day technology executives signed a separate, voluntary White House Accord on Super Intelligence after a summit at the White House. Trump called the accord "morally binding," according to the outlet, which said it centers on commitments such as internal controls and several layers of audits and reviews. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg praised the initiative in a post on X, Fox Business said.

Why It Matters

The order turns a label the president has favored into required usage across the executive branch. The Primary Wire reported on Sept. 26 that the U.S.-China agreement reached after Trump's summit with Xi Jinping had already adopted the SI label for a planned bilateral dialogue and an incident-reporting channel. Now agency press releases, guidance, web pages and reports will follow the same wording.

In the order, the administration argues that the new term better conveys the promise and fast-advancing capabilities of the technology. A White House fact sheet released alongside it presented the change as reflecting new forms of human creativity rather than automation. It also listed earlier policy moves under the new name: the July 2025 AI Action Plan with more than 90 federal actions, a $5 billion commitment to the Genesis Mission science program and a National Super Intelligence Policy Framework with legislative recommendations released in March 2026.

Two Vocabularies

Because statutes and existing documents are exempt, the government will use both terms for some time. Laws, prior regulations and signed contracts will keep saying "artificial intelligence," while new agency communications are expected to say Super Intelligence. The definition the order points to comes from the National Artificial Intelligence Initiative Act of 2020, and replacing it would take an act of Congress.

The choice of words also departs from how the field has generally used the term. Researchers and AI companies have typically reserved "superintelligence" for hypothetical systems that would exceed human ability across most tasks, a much higher bar than the chatbots, coding tools and other systems that fall under the current statutory definition the order borrows.

What to Watch

The science adviser's proposal is due in late November, 60 days after signing. Whether Congress takes up a statutory definition is an open question, as is how quickly agencies revise existing websites and public materials. Also worth watching is whether companies that signed the White House accord adopt the term in their own public communications.